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Title: Understanding Construction Workers’ Risk Decisions Using Cognitive Continuum Theory
Creator: Menches, Cindy L., Saxena, Jaya
Date: 2013-09-19, 2013-09-19
Description: The goal of the research presented in this article was to construct a theory about the influence of decision cues on intuitive and...
Show moreThe goal of the research presented in this article was to construct a theory about the influence of decision cues on intuitive and deliberative decision-making in high-hazard construction environments. Drawing from Cognitive Continuum Theory, the article specifies a framework for understanding why and how construction workers make decisions that lead to taking or avoiding physical risks when they encounter daily hazards. A secondary aim of the research was to construct a set of hypotheses about how specific decision cues influence whether a worker is more likely to engage their intuitive impulses or to use careful deliberation when responding to a hazard. These hypotheses are described in this article, and the efficacy of the hypotheses was evaluated using cross-tabulations and nonparametric measures of association. While most of the associations between decision cues and decision mode (i.e., intuition or deliberation) identified in this data set were generally modest, none of the associations were statistically zero, thus indicating that further research is warranted based on theoretical grounds. A rigorous program of theory testing is the next logical step to the research, and the article thus concludes with numerous suggestions for extending the research and testing the proposed hypotheses.
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Title: A diary study of the disruption experiences of crew members on a jobsite (Working Paper)
Creator: Menches, Cindy L., Chen, Juan
Date: 2012-06-01, 2012-06-01
Description: This article demonstrates the use of a diary technique in a construction setting. The advantage of a diary study over other methods for...
Show moreThis article demonstrates the use of a diary technique in a construction setting. The advantage of a diary study over other methods for capturing subjective experience is its ability to capture the thoughts, decisions, actions, and emotions of individuals in situ – while they are working in their natural setting – at multiple points in time during an individual’s workweek. Hence, the diary method is uniquely designed to answer questions about group-level trends as well as individual behavior. The specific goal of the study reported in this article was to derive an understanding of the types of fast decisions and actions that are made following a workflow disruption and how the disruption impacts the worker’s state of mind. The analyses revealed that there was a group-level positive correlation between experiencing a disruption and initiating a fast improvised decision and action. However, some workers tended to improvise frequently when disrupted while others did not. The analyses also revealed that the workers’ emotions fluctuated throughout the week, and two emotions – determined and interested – tended to decline following a disruption. But, some of the workers also experienced increases in their negative emotions while others did not, suggesting that not all workers react in the same way to disruptions. Consequently, the diary technique provides a novel way to identify the impact of disruptive events on worker decision-making and performance.
Sponsorship: National Science Foundation
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Title: Emotional reactions to variations in contract language
Creator: Menches, Cindy L., Dorn, Lawrence
Date: 2012-07-20, 2012-07-25
Description: This article introduces a theory of emotion-driven behavior in construction contracting and provides support for this theory by presenting the...
Show moreThis article introduces a theory of emotion-driven behavior in construction contracting and provides support for this theory by presenting the quantitative results of a study on the emotional reaction of individuals to the language in contract clauses. Four different versions of the standard Delay Clause found in most construction contracts were extracted from four different contracts and were presented to a group of 27 individuals. Participants rank ordered the clause versions from 1 (most negative) to 4 (most positive). Overall, Clause Version 2 was ranked as having the most negative contract language, with nearly 75% of the participants ranking it as most negative. In contrast, Clause Version 4 was ranked as having the most positive contract language, with over 50% of the participants ranking it as most positive. Participants likewise selected negative emotion words to describe their reaction to Clause Version 2 and positive emotion words to describe their reaction to Clause Version 4. The findings suggest that contract clauses that contain negative language do tend to generate negative emotional reactions while positive contract language do tend to generate positive emotional reactions.
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Title: NSF Annual Report 2012 on Flexible Decision-making in Response to Disruptive Events on Construction Sites
Creator: Menches, Cindy L., Chen, Juan
Date: 2012-06-29, 2012-06-29
Description: This 2012 annual research report submitted to the National Science Foundation describes: (1) involved people, (2) research activities, (3)...
Show moreThis 2012 annual research report submitted to the National Science Foundation describes: (1) involved people, (2) research activities, (3) research findings, (4) training and development, (5) outreach activities, (6) publications, and (7) contributions for rant number CMMI-1100514, Flexible Decision-making in Response to Disruptive Events on Construction Sites.
Sponsorship: National Science Foundation Award Number: CMMI-1100514
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Title: Using ecological momentary assessment to understand a construction worker’s daily disruptions and decisions (Working Paper)
Creator: Menches, Cindy L., Chen, Juan
Date: 2012-06-01, 2012-06-01
Description: Capturing the momentary decisions and actions made by construction workers in response to workflow disruptions is challenging because, until...
Show moreCapturing the momentary decisions and actions made by construction workers in response to workflow disruptions is challenging because, until now, there has not been a minimally-disruptive data collection method that allows workers to identify their decision process “in the moment.” However, an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) method – designed to capture momentary work experiences in natural settings – can provide researchers with detailed information about the daily challenges experienced by workers during the course of performing their tasks. An explanation of the method is provided, along with examples of the types of research questions that can be addressed and appropriate analysis techniques. The EMA method is being used on a federally-funded research program in the United States that is investigating how construction workers adapt to workflow disruptions by improvising their decisions and actions. Consequently, this article demonstrates the use of the method by presenting an idiographic study of William, an electrical construction worker. The evaluation of William’s disruptions, decisions, and actions elucidated an important relationship: every one of William’s disruptions required an improvisational action in order to continue working. The EMA method opens the door to the development of new theories about rapid decisions and subsequent actions on construction sites.
Sponsorship: National Science Foundation
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Title: Selecting a Compensation Strategy to Control Project Duration: Empirical Comparison of Lump Sum and Reimbursable Strategies (Working Paper)
Creator: Chen, Juan, Menches, Cindy L.
Date: 2012-05-01, 2012-05-01
Description: Reducing project duration is a significant concern for many industries in the speed-to-market era. Numerous studies have examined the effects...
Show moreReducing project duration is a significant concern for many industries in the speed-to-market era. Numerous studies have examined the effects of project delivery methods on speeding up the process of construction. However, no study has quantitatively compared the effect of using different compensation strategies on schedule duration and schedule reduction. Using the data obtained from 175 international construction projects, this paper focuses on examining the influence of compensation strategy (lump sum versus reimbursable) on project duration while specifically taking into account the industry sector (heavy industrial versus light industrial). The results of the study provide empirical evidence that using a reimbursable compensation strategy can potentially shorten the procurement duration, construction duration, and overall project duration of heavy industrial projects. However, reimbursable contracting did not appear to reduce the project duration on light industrial projects.
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Title: Innovative Uses of Native CAD Files
Creator: Menches, Cindy L., Kleps, Stephen M.
Date: 2012-08-31, 2011-08-31
Description: This technical report describes the outcomes resulting from conducting interviews with professional estimators within the electrical...
Show moreThis technical report describes the outcomes resulting from conducting interviews with professional estimators within the electrical construction industry. The purpose of the interviews was to identify whether native files are shared, why sharing does not occur more frequently, how file sharing might benefit the estimating process, and barriers to sharing native CAD files for the purpose of estimating from CAD drawings.
Sponsorship: Electri International
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